Cal's Jeff Tedford coaching in 10th Big Game

CAL-STANFORD BEAT

Published 4:00 am, Thursday, November 17, 2011

This will be Cal coach Jeff Tedford's 10th Big Game. The Fresno State graduate did not understand the importance of the rivalry when he was hired in 2002 but by now it's part of the fabric of his life. He has a 7-2 record versus Stanford.

"Early in my career here it was really hard to understand" the game's importance, he said. "When you're a part of it, you've been on the positive end and on the wrong side of it. Now you don't only hear the stories about it but you've been a part of it. When you don't have the Axe, it means something."

Ertz is out: Stanford coach David Shawsaid after practice Wednesday that he would be "shocked" if tight end Zach Ertzcould play because of his knee injury.

Tickets returned: For the second time in four years, Cal failed to sell out its complement of tickets for the Big Game at Stanford Stadium. The school returned about 2,000 of its 15,000-ticket allotment for Saturday night's game, a Stanford spokesman said Wednesday.

In 2007, Cal returned more than 400 tickets too late for Stanford to sell them, preventing the game from being sold out.

This week's ticket return meant that Stanford had extra tickets available on Wednesday. They were priced at $75 and were expected to be sold quickly.

The sellout will be the fifth of the season at Stanford and the ninth since the stadium was rebuilt after the 2005 season. Next week's Notre Dame game is also expected to sell out.

Mystified at mascot: Cal linebacker D.J. Holt, a senior, won't miss the sight of Stanford's mascot as he goes on in life.

"I dislike the tree," he said. "I've seen some really good mascots. I don't really understand the Cardinal or the tree."

The former is a color while the latter is on the seal of the City of Palo Alto.

Succinctly said: Knowing that a former NFL defensive coordinator is in charge of Cal's defense, which is No. 1 against the pass in the Pac-12, Shaw said, "Clancy Pendergast is not one of my favorite people on the planet."

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